The Dance
by Mizz Brainiac
Summary: What happens when a bunch of teenage mutants throw a New Years' Dance? Well...you'll see. Uses my OCs from Galactic Fuse: Nathan Conwell, Angel Meriwether, Lee Daring, and Jessica Graham.
1. Chapter 1

"Nate, no—"

"Please, sis," Nathan Conwell gave her 'the face'. His very sisterly friend, Jessica Graham, had never been able to resist his completely innocent, pale face and his clouded, brown eyes that were greatly magnified by his thick lenses.

The female werewolf forever stuck in mid-transformation mode stared down at him determine to resist this time. She repeated over and over in her mind, _'No, no, no, no, noooooooo—'_

"For me?" he asked innocently.

Jessica stared the short, crippled prodigy down for a few moments longer before her gold eyes and pointed ears started to twitch. "Fine, Nate. I'll go. But you'd better get Lee and Ang' to go, too."

Nathan smiled widely. "I will. And I'll have you a dress made immediately."

...

"I don't dance, Conwell."

"I'm not saying you have to dance, Lee," Nathan, countered. "Don't think of it as a dance; think of it as an intimate get-together. A formal one."

Lee Daring, who had laid out on the couch with his arms folded behind his head on the arm of the couch with his father's old hat tipped to cover his face, grumbled, "I don't do 'formal'."

Nathan rolled his eyes and used his arm brace crutch to limp over behind the couch. "C'mon, Lee. Jessica will be there."

The blonde with a messy mop of hair hesitated, "...No. I'm not going. And even if I wanted to—I don't have a suit. Just my trench coat."

"I could have one made for you," suggested the newly thirteen-year-old.

Lee made a grumbling sound. "What's this stupid dance for anyways?"

"I told you—think of it as an intimate get-together," Nathan said then elaborated, "And it's to celebrate the New Year. The fact that we've managed to change a rundown college campus in the middle of nowhere to a refuge and school for those who were affected by the Meta Epidemic and have this place last till the New Year is quite a feat, don't you think?"

"Eh," Lee shrugged from where he lay.

His eyes rolling once again, the young prodigy tried one final time, "There will be free food."

"I'll sneak some leftovers," stated the blonde stubbornly.

Nathan sighed exasperatedly and turned, limping toward the door. When he reached the door, placed his hand on the scanner panel, and waited for the door to slide open, he stated, "I'll get that suit ready for you."

Lee sat up quick putting a hand to his old, detective hat to keep it on his head, "Nate—!"

Nathan was already gone. Outside the room, he limped down the hallway with a slightly amused look on his face.

To himself, the young boy muttered, "Now to see if I can convince Angel..."

...

"No."

"But Angel—"

"Mr. Conwell, I have patients to tend," Angel Meriwether said as she searched the shelves of her medical laboratory for a specific medication needed by one of her patients.

"Yes, but that is why we have med bots—to give you a break every now and then," Nathan pointed out standing behind her near the medical examination table on which an injured meta-teen lie.

While she measured out the proper amount of the medicine and put the liquid medication in the bag that an IV was attached to the meta-teens arm, she said, "A living being is more efficient than a robot, you know."

"Please, Angel," he pleaded.

"I said no and that is final, Mr. Conwell," Angel stated fervently, bandaging her patient's wounded leg. "Besides, what use would you have of a halo-less angel at a dance?"

"Admittedly, I don't need a halo-less angel," Nathan stated, still standing in that spot, "But I do need a friend."

She stopped. After quite a pause, she sighed, "Alright, fine, Mr. Conwell. I'll be there."

Nathan smiled and nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Angel. I'll have you a dress made and will see you then."

Angel turned to face him, "Mr. Conwell, I really don't need a—"

Strangely enough, he was gone.

**This story uses some of the characters from my story Galactic Fuse. It better elaborates on their personalities and their world. This short story's purpose is also to entertain and humor. If it doesn't humor you...understand that I live in my own little world and am humored by..._different _things... ;D _Please_ review! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

In her quarters, Jessica turned in the mirror checking out her waist. The navy dress was lovely. One strap and a slit that reached from just below her knee to halfway up her thigh.

The dress was beautiful, she thought. But she found it hard to think of herself as beautiful with the laid down gray fur all over her body. And her long, pointed canine teeth. Golden eyes. Pointed ears. It wasn't easy for a sixteen-year-old whose emotions were already supposed to be hormonally imbalanced to have this sort of thing to worry about when it came to appearance.

She sighed and hung her head, her long black hair falling in front of her face. Perhaps this dance was not a good idea. She recalled Nathan's word that night she had been changed. That first night of the Meta Epidemic...

"_We are some of the lucky ones," Nathan stated._

_Jessica steamed with her new wolf-like fury. "Lucky? LUCKY? I'm a freak! I have FUR!"_

"_Some did not stop mid transformation," he continued darkly, looking down, "And some could not withstand the transformation. Many died. Some, even, cannot control their new instincts as well as you can."_

_Jessica softened, plopped down on Nathan's bed, and cried..._

That had been almost eleven months ago. And she still hadn't gotten over it. Not that anyone could blame her.

Jessica sat down on her bed rubbing her furry arm uncertainly. "I don't think I can do this..."

Then she spotted something on her nightstand she had not seen before. It was a necklace. A beautiful silver chain with a dark blue gem as a charm. There was a note.

_Jessica,_

_I had a feeling you would be rather self conscious. If it helps, I installed a holographic projector in this necklace. It'll appear to give you your skin and your eyes back. Merely apply slight pressure to the charm with two fingers at minimum. _

_Conwell_

Jessica shook her head with a faint smile.

After his nap, Lee finally decided to drag himself off the couch that folded out into a bed in his quarters. He grumbled as he trudged groggily toward his closet.

"Not going to no stinkin' dance..."

He opened the closet to see a blazer and slacks that were the exact same shade as his tan trench coat. He laughed with thick sarcasm. "Real funny, Conwell."

Spying a note pinned to the blazer, he took it off and read it.

_Lee,_

_I had some left over rubber-insulated material from making your trench coat. Couldn't imagine you in black._

_Conwell_

"Hilarious," Lee muttered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He dropped the note on the floor of his closet. He took the blazer off its hanger and put it on over his white tank top and looked in the mirror. He rolled his eyes. "Real sharp, Daring."

He sighed, glancing at his rubber insulated brown gloves on his small table next to his couch/bed.

Being a walking light bulb as well as a walking lightning bolt that'd shock anyone he touched was not an easy thing to live with. All his clothing and shoes had to be rubber insulated. He also had to wear gloves and be wary of what he leaned against.

He sighed. He'd look like a freakish dork in all that sort of a getup. Brown gloves and all. Boots too.

Then, he recalled how Nathan had said that Jessica was going. If she was willing to go with all her self consciousness having to do with her wolfish looks, he shouldn't have to hesitate over stupid gloves and boots.

Lee took another look at himself in the mirror and repeated, "Sharp."

After working as late as her mortal body would permit, Angel walked into her quarters tiredly. Sitting down on her bed, she pulled the pins out of her bun, letting her hair fall down around her shoulders. She went to her drawers to find her nightgown and remembered the dress Nathan had mentioned. He generally finished things quickly, so she decided to check her closet for it.

Behind her closet door she found a pale blue, strapless dress that had a lace shawl-like jacket to cover her shoulders. Under the dress skirt she could just make out a layer of lace at the bottom.

A small smile twitched at the edge of her lips, but she shook it away quickly. The dress, she admitted, was quite exquisite. Her preferences, at that. Sure, most would not find that to their taste, but she had been around for two thousand years. The trends changed quickly and pointlessly to her, so she simply went with her own.

In a voice just barely a whisper, she murmured, "Thank you, Mr. Conwell..."


	3. Chapter 3

Nathan was satisfied with the appearance of the dance. Decorations had been put up in the huge training center. It made a marvelous dance floor. The finger foods had been set up in the back and chairs and tables had been set up around the perimeter. Everyone seemed to enjoy the DJ—meta-teen Dante Garth, a.k.a. Zero G.

Nathan prepared to step up the microphone to give a short speech. He glanced at Dante and gave a sharp nod.

Dante nodded back and made the music come to an end. "Alright, people, put your hands together to the founder of the Meta Refuge, the guy who made all this possible, the one and only—Nathan Conwell!"

The raven-haired boy flushed lightly as applause rang out. As he stepped up to the microphone, it slowly died away.

"Thank you very much, everyone." Nathan half-smiled shyly. He swallowed his nervousness and prepared himself. "It is a pleasure to have served you and to continue serving you. Thank you for your cooperation and your patience throughout this hard, challenging year. Now, I'm certain none of you want to hear me drone on any further, so please—enjoy yourselves."

Stepping away, he avoided everyone's eyes bashfully as he limped off the small raised platform.

Dante turned up the tunes. "Let's kick it up in here tonight!"

Nathan limped back to the tables with the finger food in the back. When he reached there, he turned and watched the others enjoy themselves, looking for one of the three faces he knew well: Jessica, Lee, and Angel.

He sighed and leaned against the wall helping to prop himself up with his solitary arm-brace crutch.

"Lonely?"

At the sound of the voice, he turned his head to see Angel having come and stood near him. "Ehm, I suppose. You look lovely."

"Thanks," she said with her usual mask of a face on—the grim line of a mouth and dull, sarcastic expression. "You don't look so bad either."

Wearing a black suit minus the blazer and plus a maroon tie, he smiled faintly, "Thanks."

Taking a sip of some punch she had gotten, Angel looked over the crowd. "I don't suppose you've seen Jessica or Lee."

"No—I didn't see either of them in the crowd," Nathan replied. "Jessica said she was coming. Lee, though...I'm not sure."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't show," stated the platinum blonde. "I for some reason can't see him in a suit."

A humored smile appeared on Nathan's face. "What if it was the same color of his trench coat?"

"That—I can see," Angel remarked.

The two fell silent for a moment. Then to their surprise, Lee joined them in the tan suit, brown gloves, and brown detective hat.

Angel looked him up and down. "...Sharp. I saw someone fifty years ago in the same attire."

"Thanks." Lee rolled his eyes. "You look like a combination of Cinderella and Tinker Bell."

The two glared dully at one another. Nathan felt he had to intervene.

"Ehm, Lee, have you seen Jessica?"

"No." Lee shoved his hands in the pockets of his slacks. "I'm thinkin' about leavin'."

"Oh, stay a little while—she might show up," pleaded Nathan.

Angel put in, "Yes, stay and indulge yourself in the free food."

"Why do you two think I only care about free food?" he asked with an offended tone. He turned to head into the crowd. Before he did, though, he snatched a small sandwich.

A humored smile appeared on Nathan's face. Meanwhile, Angel rolled her eyes.

Lee traveled through the crowd searching for a sign of Jessica. Gray fur, long black hair, yellow eyes—not a glimpse anywhere.

Then, he saw her.

Caucasian skin, long black hair, and blue eyes. She was normal again. Or rather, one of Nathan's inventions—a holographic projector most likely—had made her appear normal.

Lee suddenly felt very self conscious about the attire he wore. But there was really no reason to feel that way. No one stared at him. Every person here had something unique or out of the ordinary about them. Dante Smith was like a 3D shadow with silver sockets as eyes, Travis McKay had red skin and blood red hair along with silvery-gray eyes making him look like some sort of demon, Hewney Murphie had scales on all over his body and webbed fingers, and so many others had odd appearances.

A faint aura of yellow light forever clang to Lee, a constant flow of electricity was visible in his ecstatic green eyes, and his hair was messy partially because of the static energy around and inside him (the other partial was because he didn't like combing it often).

Lee sighed and was considering backing out of the crowd but then Jessica turned and spotted him. She smiled and swaggered over to him in her amazing navy dress that complemented her curves nicely.

"Well, aren't you an original." She grinned lopsidedly, commenting on his attire and detective hat that he refused to remove from his head. "Couldn't take the hat off just once?"

"You know how I feel about taking it off," Lee said defensively as he swallowed the last bit of his sandwich.

With a bark of laughter and a smile, she said, "You superstitious powerhouse. Wanna dance?"

"I don't dance."

She eyed him, "Uhh huh. Do you know slow dance?"

"Nope—I said I don't dance."

Rolling her eyes, she raised a finger. "Wait here."

She weaved her way off the dance floor and up to Dante and cupped her hand around her mouth as she whispered something to him. He nodded his shadow-black head and searched for a specific record.

Lee arched an eyebrow as he watched her return, "What'd you—"

"I'm going to show you how to slow dance," she said simply.

The colored lights changed to a pale blue which gave a serene look against the dimness around the room. Simultaneously, the song changed.

"_Step one, you say we need to talk; he walks, you say sit down, it's just a talk..."_

Lee looked up and around rather surprised.

"_He smiles politely back at you; you smile politely right on through..."_

A finger tapped under his chin. "Pay attention, Daring."

"_Some sort of window to your right as he goes left and you stay right between the lines of fear and blame..."_

He looked back down at Jessica as she took his gloved hands and directed him.

"You put your hands on my waist..." She placed his hands on her hips for him.

"_You begin to wonder why you came..."_

"...and I put mine here." She folded hers behind his neck that was covered by his rubber insulated collar so that she wouldn't be electrocuted and started to sway slightly. "Catching on, Leroy?"

"_Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend, somewhere along in the bitterness..."_

"Yea, I'm—hey, I told you not to call me Leroy—"

Jessica grinned and leaned a bit closer, "Relax, Lee. Just dance."

"_And I would have stayed up with you all night, had I known how to save a life..."_

After a minute, Lee smiled faintly, enjoying himself as they swayed to the music.

"_Let him know that you know best, 'cause after all, you do know best..."_

Lee waited a moment before asking, "You...you wanna go somewhere? Outside? They're gonna launch fireworks soon. So is Jacksonville. We could watch."

"_Try to slip past his defense, without granting innocence..."_

Smiling, Jessica nodded, "Sure. How about the ledge?

"I like it," said Lee with a grin.


	4. Chapter 4

Lee led her onto the ledge. The ledge was a grassy peak that wasn't too far from the Meta Refuge. It had a perfect few of the city of Jacksonville. The night sky was also a lovely sight from this point. The two stood near the edge and took in the sight.

With a blink of his eyes, Lee realized that a certain someone had snuck her hand into his. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and smiled, coloring lightly.

From Jacksonville, New Years' fireworks shot into the air. Jess looked up at them and her face brightened at the sight. On the other hand, Lee took one glance at the fireworks and turned his attention back to Jessica. He noticed her necklace, and it dawned on him that that was the holographic projector.

With his free gloved hand, he reached for her necklace and picked up the lovely charm. Jessica looked down to see what he was doing. Applied light pressure did he, and the projection of real human skin and light blue eyes flickered away.

"You don't need that, y'know," said Lee. "I think you look fine just the way you are."

Jessica looked down bashfully. When she looked back up, their eyes met, and she stepped closer. An electric current raced up Lee's back as her face leaned closer to his.

A celebratory rocket shot off course and hit the ground below the edge of the ledge. In a huge explosion that blew Lee's hat off his head and exposed his mess of exceptionally long blonde hair, the ground crumbled from beneath them. Lee backed out of the way quickly. Meanwhile, Jessica was standing over a huge chunk of ground that crumbled away in the explosion. With a scream, she fell.

"Jess!" Lee's arm quickly shot out as he dropped onto his knees. He grabbed hold of her hand quickly and held on tightly. His other hand joined in the effort, and he pulled her to her feet.

Jessica breathed hard once he had pulled her far from the edge. She stared back as the earth and grass descended far below. A small brown figure was seen floating away in the wind.

"You know..." as her breath gradually began returning to her she managed, "You know you just gave up your hat for me."

Lee looked up and noticed his precious hat, his dear father's hat, floating away. That hat was the only remnant he had of his father, the man he had held at such high respect and had loved more dearly than anyone. His father had given it to him hours before he was shot to death on one of his detective jobs. Lee swallowed a lump in his throat and looked back to her with a lopsided grin that held a bit of uneasiness, "It's just a hat."

A smile spread across her face, and she leaned in close. Without realizing it, Lee had also leaned in. She was so close, and he had the desire to lean in the rest of the way and kiss her. In her eyes, he could see she shared a similar desire, and she wasn't about to hesitate.

Quickly, Lee pulled back. "No. I—we can't. I'll shock you."

Jessica grabbed him by his collar and pulled him back in and to her eye level. "Listen here, Daring. I trust you. I know you can control your powers. You just have to try."

Then, she leaned in, and planted her lips on his. Seeing as she didn't jerk and scream in pain, Lee relaxed into the kiss and at that moment, everything was perfect. As though to prove this, the Meta Refuge set off their own fireworks; and it colorfully lit up sky behind the odd couple.

On the second floor of one of the many buildings on the abandoned campus, Nathan limped out onto the balcony of what used to be a special dorm for the principal of the old college. The balcony faced the ledge, and the young boy genius was just in time to see his sisterly figure and the electro meta-teen share their moment.

"Well, look at that..." he muttered, propping himself up with his crutch and watching amused.

"It's about time."

Nathan turned his head to see Angel walk onto the balcony behind him holding a familiar brown hat and seeing the sight as well.

"This landed on my head as I was making my way to this wing," she said. "I began to wonder if Lee had died."

"Eh, well it would seem he's quite alive," Nathan remarked with an amused half grin looking back at the scene. He then turned around to face Angel and leaned against the balcony, propping himself up with the arm brace crutch. "So, Dr. Meriwether, do you plan to stay with us for this next year?"

Angel sighed and leaned against the balcony across from him. "I'm not sure. If Mira remains on this planet, then I will stay. But if she parts from Lev'n, I may be leaving."

The young prodigy's face fell. "You really benefit this team. And this refuge. Your medical skills are needed."

"I know—but sadly, stopping Mira is my main objective," the blue eyed immortal looked up at the night sky staring up at the stars. "I have found many friends here... However, the sad reality for me is that as you all age and eventually die, I'll live on. Until, of course, I'm slain."

"I'm... I'm sorry, Angel. I suppose I never...considered that," Nathan looked down with a sigh. "You've had to move on...many times, haven't you?"

Nodded did she. "Every generation...for two thousand years."

Nathan paused, "...Well... You're always welcome here. So long as I'm living."

"Thank you, Mr. Conwell," Angel nodded. "I believe this New Year will be better than the last. But there will be greater challenges still to come."


End file.
